Archive for July, 2010
July 31st, 2010 | 
Author: What Is Social Media?
What is Social Media according to Google:
These are the results for “define social media”..these definitions may vary with time
- A category of sites that is based on user participation and usergenerated content. They include social networking sites like LinkedIn or Facebook social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us social news sites like Digg or Reddit and other sites that are centered on user interaction.
- The term social media describes media that is posed by the user and can take many different forms. Some types of social media are forums message boards blogs wikis and podcasts. Social media applications include Google Facebook and YouTube.
- Software tools that allow groups to generate content and engage in peertopeer conversations and exchange of content examples are YouTube Flickr Facebook MySpace etc
Youll notice as you read through each definition that youre receiving explanations by examples.
Social Medianot new its a buzz term by marketers. It has existed for numerous years.
In fact the first email ever sent the first website ever created the microblogging tools we use commenting and every other form of interaction with people on a global scale or in your backyard by way of the internet has been by the use of what is referred to as Social Media today.
What is Social Media according to Wikipedia:
Social media is the use of electronic and Internet tools for the purpose of sharing and discussing information and experiences with other human beings. The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology social interaction and the construction of words pictures videos and audio.
This interaction and the manner in which information is presented depends on the varied perspectives and building of shared meaning among communities as people share their stories and experiences.
What is Social Media according to other ndividuals:
You say Certainly the well known authors have provided clear definitions.
Lets take a look:
Robert Scoble says Compare it to whats come before.
Chris Heuer says Social Media is redefining how we relate to each other as humans and how we as humans relate to the organizations that serve us. While it is commonly represented by blogs podcasts vlogs wikis user generated content and social networks it is not about those specific things as much as it is about what happens around and because of those things.
Mark Dykeman says Social media are the means for any person to: publish digital creative content; provide and obtain realtime feedback via online discussions commentary and evaluations; and incorporate changes or corrections to the original content.
What is Social Media Really?
Social Media is a verb. An action term. Not a noun.
“Media” is and always has been the singular form of “Medium” which means storage and transmission tools used to store and deliver information or data.
Add the word “Social” and it means you amp; I interacting communicating exchanging information..SOCIALIZING.
That being said the simple and understandable definition of Social Media is..drumroll please
“The use of internet platforms and tools which enable interaction and communication between users.
About the writer:nbsp;nbsp;Author of “Social Change SEO“
A student of Lord Fairfax Community College Warrenton Virginia seeking an associates degree in communication specialization.
Student of life seeking a masters degree in change.
Who knows what the future holds?
I like the ride.
Text Highlight PHP:TextHighlighter PEAR CSS File
Recently I had a problem with the Text Highlighter obtained from the PHP PEAR repository. I thought I was following all the instructions but it seemed the code was not highlighting the text with color i.e. beautifying it. Here are the steps I took to get the Text_Highlighter working on this site:
1 First you need to install the PEAR TEXT_HIGHLIGHTER. Google ‘pear php.’ Then search for ‘text highlighter.’
Type this: pear install Text_Highlighter0.7.1 or whatever is the latest stable version and replace with the appropriate numbers. I had a problem with Bluehost.com where I currently host some of my websites. I ran this pear install Text_Highlighter0.7.1 via PuTTY;however I received an error that the Text Highlighter files could not be found. So I attempted to change the php.ini file on the line include_path but it didn’t work. So I used the PHP set_include_path function as so:
lt;?php
path = “path/to/PEAR”;
set = set_include_pathget_include_path . PATH_SEPARATOR . path;
?gt;
2 Then I set a require_once function to the Text Highlighter file. I placed the following code right after my body tags:
lt;?php
require_once “Text/Highlighter.php”;
require_once “Text/Highlighter/Renderer/Html.php”;
renderer = new Text_Highlighter_Renderer_Htmlarray”numbers” =gt; HL_NUMBERS_LI “tabsize” =gt; 4;
?gt;
The render object set by Text_Highlighter_Renderer_Html sets numbers for each line of code and the othe r option sets the tabs for easier reading. I haven’t quite figured out how the tab works though. When I figure this out I’ll post the solution. Right after the above code I set all the variables for each specific programming language as so:
lt;?php
hiHtml =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”HTML”;
hiHtmlgt;setRendererrenderer;
hiCss =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”CSS”;
hiCssgt;setRendererrenderer;
hiPhp =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”PHP”;
hiPhpgt;setRendererrenderer;
hiDtd =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”DTD”;
hiDtdgt;setRendererrenderer;
hiJava =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”Java”;
hiJavagt;setRendererrenderer;
hiJavascript =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”Javascript”;
hiJavascriptgt;setRendererrenderer;
hiMySql =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”MySQL”;
hiMySqlgt;setRendererrenderer;
hiPerl =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”Perl”;
hiPerlgt;setRendererrenderer;
hiPython =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”Python”;
hiPythongt;setRendererrenderer;
hiRuby =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”Ruby”;
hiRubygt;setRendererrenderer;
hiSql =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”SQL”;
hiSqlgt;setRendererrenderer;
hiVbScript =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”VBSCRIPT”;
hiVbScriptgt;setRendererrenderer;
hiXml =amp; Text_Highlighter::factory”XML”;
hiXmlgt;setRendererrenderer;
?gt;
To implement the highlighting in your code all you need to do is:
lt;?php
echo hiHtmlgt;highlight”lt;pgt;This is a sample of displaying and preformatting HTML code to display properly and that validates under W3C standards.lt;/pgt;
lt;divgt;This is a div tag. I’ve used the character entities for the HTML P tage and in the DIV taglt;/divgt;
lt;divgt;In this div tag I’ve used the numbered entities for the less than and greater than signs. Though you can’t see it displayed in the browser you can check in the source code of the browser.lt;/divgt;”
?gt;
About the writer: TutorialRef.com is a website hosting articles on various tutorials on PHP CSS Javascript AJAX XML other computer languages SEO Search Engine Optimization Internet Marketing software tips and other subject matters. This article is written by Victor Kimura a web developer and SEO expert. PHP Tutorial. Original article for stepbystep PHP Tutorial with highlighted code: Text Highlighter PHP PEAR.
Outsourcing To Bpo Companies – Some Facts
With Business Process Outsourcing BPO companies offering specialized services at competitive costs large companies are increasingly outsourcing the noncore part of their business operations to BPO companies. Even if the BPO services provider is based halfway across the globe from its client company it is able to seamlessly integrate its workflow with that of the client company and thus complete tasks in real time and with assured quality.
The most common outsourced work includes SEO and Web Development services Transcription Services and Data entry Projects software development data and voice call center etc.
Reasons for outsourcing
Outsourcing has witnessed huge rise in popularity in recent times for a variety of reasons; the most common of them are:
Certain processes can be performed at much lower costs from remote locations because of certain local factors such as cheap talent.
An MNC draws customers all over the world. Hiring local people helps the company to ce so to serve them better local talent is required.
Because of budgetary or legal or some other constraint it is not possible nor is to feasible to build up the necessary capacity for expansion.
Certain non core processes are draining significant resources and time which can be gainfully employed to sharpen the core skills.
Benefits of Outsourcing to BPO companies
- Access to latest technology without heavy capital investment
- Access to wide range of talent at very economical cost.
- Specific supplier benefits. For example better network security continuity etc.
- Higher quality service due to focus of the BPO company
- Less strain on precious internal resources
- Save on time effort infrastructure and resources
- Large volume of work can be finished on time as good BPO companies have necessary scale and expertise to handle such jobs.
Right way to outsource
Streamline the process: Before outsourcing any process companies should streamline it with active involvement of the BPO service providers. This will ensure that there are no delays in implementing the process. If there are problems because of inconsistencies between the implemented process and the desired one then clear understanding of the controls and parameters is necessary to achieve business objectives.
Outsource the right process: Admittedly all the processes cannot be outsourced for various reasons. Find out the process to be outsourced by asking yourself following questions:
Has the process to be outsourced been streamlined and is there a proper documentation to define various stages of the process?
Have the parameters to control the outcome quality of the process been identified and documented?
Will the BPO company execute service level agreement SLA and will it be able to provide right real time monitoring.
Choose the right BPO partner: Choosing the right BPO service provider will reduce the risk time and expense involved in the commissioning running and implementing an outsourced process. The best BPO partner is the one whose business process management BPM closely parallels yours. In this case there wont be any problems in transferring and implementing the process at BPO end because of close resemblance in management and control procedures
About the writer: Cyrus Bilimoria is a consultant on BPO companies and has written several write ups on outsourcing and BPO services.
